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New 'Transformers' Movie May Not Launch New Trilogy, Says Producer

"It's a little arrogant of us to presume success each time," says Lorenzo di Bonaventura, adding that he and director Michael Bay are taking the series one movie at a time.

While a 2016 release date for Transformers 5 may have been suggested by Paramount’s Edward Ryan last week, it’s not a sure thing just yet, according to Transformers producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura.

Talking to IGN, the producer said that, despite earlier comments, neither he nor director Michael Bay are considering this summer’s Transformers: Age of Extinction as the launching pad for a new trilogy of movies featuring Hasbro’s Robots in Disguise.

”We’re not planning on doing a trilogy,” di Bonaventura said, quickly adding: “We’re not not planning on doing a trilogy. It’s really a one-movie-at-a-time philosophy.” Anything else, he suggested, “feels a little arrogant. Both [Bay] and I feel like it’s a little arrogant of us to presume success each time. We know our fans are really out there and they’re going to come, so we presume a certain amount of success. But all the energy will be thrown into the next movie, if we’re lucky enough to get there.”

Di Bonaventura also scotched suggestions of any spinoffs from the central Transformers series, a la Disney’s Star Wars plans or Sony’s Amazing Spider-Man build-out. “Honestly, there’s been no discussion of it because we’ve been in the business of making [the core series] bigger and bigger,” he said. “I think a lot of those spinoffs tend to happen when something’s plateaued. We’re not at that place yet, hopefully.”

He did say, however, that “one of the things that people underestimate about the Transformers mythology is how rich it is,” pointing out that “there is an enormous number of characters; there’s a helluva lot of storylines, etcetera.” Perhaps he’s sending out a message that, should Paramount want spinoffs, there’s certainly the material there to support it. Such comments about Transformers, fittingly, may mean more than meets the eye.